


y poco a poco olvidar (el tiempo y su velocidad)

by cfkenobi



Category: Las Estrellas (TV)
Genre: Accidental Cuddling, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Jane Austen Levels of Pining, Sharing a Bed, Thunderstorms, a serious kink for interruptions, if you think you've seen pining think again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-03-28 02:35:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13894395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cfkenobi/pseuds/cfkenobi
Summary: In which Flor is afraid of storms and Jazmín is afraid of their aftermath.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> the tea is that they're both a bit of a mess, and i honest to god made up so many facts in this piece. the timeline is around a couple days before jazmín tells flor she has feelings for her so you get a little taste of pining here.  
> the mood for this is lento by julieta venegas (from the title) and revolutionary love by christopher uckermann, just in case you guys were wondering.  
> 

Jazmín had always been a very controlled person. Patient. _Everything happened in its own time_ , her grandmother had always reassured her. And so she took it by heart. But, when it came right down to Florencia Estrella, there was only _so much_ she could do.

 

“Jaz!”

 

  
Which was why, when the pouting brunette had come to her at the end of her shift in a particularly stressing day, all messy hair, baggy clothes and make-up free, and hurriedly sat on the conter, sliding towards her with this _look_ that was so entirely Florencia Estrella, she was already done. Whatever she wanted she could have. Whatever she wanted, she already had.

 

 

Which, she reckoned, was a particularly stupid thought for her to be having days away from Flor’s wedding.

 

  
“Jesus, thank God you’re still here. You, hm, you mentioned earlier that you were working late today. And then this- all of a sudden, the god damn sky is coming down to earth, and, well, I remembered _you’d mentioned earlier that you were working late_ “ She gave Jazmín this pointed look, and Jazmín responded with a questioning look of her own.

 

 

“Sleep here with me.” She blinked once, twice. Reached out to Jazmín for a second, then nervously moved her hands back, popping every joint. Jazmín opened her mouth and closed it like a gaping fish, confusion written all over her face. She watched Flor carefully. What had gotten her so stressed out?

 

“Flor, what are you talking about? What’s wrong?” She had already put everything away and set to finishing cleaning the counter as a means of keeping her hands busy; She wanted to touch Florencia, comfort her. Jazmín was surprised to hear the heavy rain and realized she would have to go home before it got worse; she never even noticed it had started raining, too deep in her own worries all day, all involving the very brunette sitting next to her. Her standoffish behavior, to the surprise of quite literally no one in the hotel, had gained her a very annoyed Javo, two finger cuts and a strong headache. She figured she looked as tired as she felt.

 

 

Watching Flor fiddle with herself and look so stressed, however, made her overlook all her worries and focus on hers which ended up being a two-way street. Having Flor there with her was already enough to make her muscles loosen up ever so slowly.  “I’ll make you a tea, okay? I can wait a bit before I leave,”

 

  
“No, no, I’m okay. The problem is outside, there’s a _fucking bitch of a storm-_ a huge storm, and you can’t go out there like that, Jazmín! And it’s so late, how are you still here?! Is my sister- _fucking Carla_ making you stay here this late?” She raised her hand for her to stop, but she went on. “It’s pouring rain! And you have an early shift tomorrow, don’t you?! Jazmín. Please stay. I have a big b-“

 

  
Jazmín raised her hand again, and this time she stopped, blinking uncontrollably. Sleeping with Florencia was a bad idea in every shape and form. If she affected her just by _sitting_ there, not even touching her, how in heavens would she handle spending a whole night laying next to her? “No, Flor, I was already getting ready to leave, see?” She gestured to herself, work clothes removed. “I’m going to call a cab-“

 

 

Florencia laced their fingers of both hands together and met her eyes with such an intense, concerned look she couldn’t help but melt into them. She couldn’t help but search for everything they wanted to convey. “Jaz. Stay. Please? I promise I’ll keep to my side of the bed. You won’t even know I’m there, yeah?” She held her stare, brushed the pad of her thumb over Jazmín’s hand. Jazmín’s eyes widened and she nervously pursed her lips, trying to play it cool. “I’ll be much more relaxed knowing you’re safe here. Do it for me? Plus, we’d have a sleepover and we haven’t _hmm_ had the time to talk much today. Please, Jaz?”

 

 

She sighed. She opened her mouth to protest, to say how much of a bad idea she knew it was, but Flor didn’t know she had feelings for her. She didn’t know that having her that close would be a bit distressing to say the last; that from the moment she first saw her she _knew_ she was too far gone already.

 

 

She was halfway through thinking up some sort of excuse that would get her somewhere else that wouldn’t be as much of a literal immediate danger as Flor’s bed and that was the moment the strong rumble of thunder chose to submerge the room, the kitchen lights blinking briefly. Flor jumped in a nearly impossible way to miss and her hands tightened around hers. At Jazmín’s concerned look, she moved her shoulder in a nervous tic. Oh. She was scared. Jazmín let her fingertips soothingly carress Flor’s hand. Did she really just come to Jazmín when she was scared like this?

 

 

 She talked before she processed it herself.

  
  
“I’ll get my things and go.”

 

  
Flor looked up, showing off her shiny eyes and a stupidly adorable victory grin that all but made it impossible for her to get back on her decision, even more when she felt her engulf her in a hug. She drowned in everything that was Florencia Estrella, the clean smell of shampoo mixed with strawberries and mint, and strong arms and soft hair tickling her face and a cold nose against her neck, and it was all too much.

 

  
Flor was out of the kitchen in a flash, leaving behind only a giggle, a rushed “I’ll leave the door unlocked!” and an overwhelmed Jazmín.

 

  
She slowly massaged her temples, ran her hands through her bangs. Flor was going to be the death of her.

 

  
“Jesus Christ.”

 

 

* * *

  
  
  
By the time she got upstairs, she had already given herself about as many pep talks as one could. She could do this. She had formulated a plan. She was a grown woman, and it was late. They weren’t going to do anything besides sleep. Flor needed her and she was safer there. She was going to stay on her side of the bed, close her eyes, lay perfectly still, keep her arms to herself and focus on that and nothing else. Not on Flor. Flor, who looked at her with gleamy, squinty eyes from laughing, just the two of them after a long day, and seemed to read her entirely. Flor, who smelled like heaven itself, Flor who had the softest, shiniest hair, Flor who smiled at her like she was _happiness itself_ , Flor who-

 

  
Jazmín groaned. No, no. Who was she kidding? She couldn’t do this.

 

  
She was about to turn back when she heard a faint “Jaz?” from inside the room.

 

  
She pressed her eyes tightly together, summoned all the courage in the world, and opened the door.

 

  
What she found inside was a very _curious_ view, and she had to cover her lips with her hand to refrain from laughing as she closed the door behind her.

 

 

Flor was... a human burrito. She was all wrapped around what looked like some very comfortable sheets, up to her nose, and head sunk in a big pillow. Jazmín could only see her shiny eyes in the darkness of the room. She grinned.

 

  
“You look like a little worm.”

 

 

Flor gasped aggrievedly and threw a pillow at her, which she swiftly dodged and laughed a little louder.

 

  
  
“A worm, Jazmín? Really?”

 

  
She busied herself by removing her shoes and depositing her bag on the floor. “Yeah, you know when they’re in that little cocoon? Right before they turn into butterflies? You look just like that, I can’t even distinguish what is you and what’s the bed right now. It’s actually a little terrifying, if you want some brutal honesty.” 

 

  
Flor huffed but Jazmín could see her eyes dancing with mirth from where she was standing, and it made her heart sing a little. “ _dumbass_ ,”  


 

They both laughed.

 

 

“Some brutal honesty is that I was starting to think you weren’t coming.” Flor murmured in a light tone, but Jazmín could see the hint of a frown ghosting her face.

 

She knew her too well, she realized.

 

  
She looked at her and offered a little smile. “I told you I was coming, didn’t I?”

 

 

“Yes, but...” She trailed off. Flor gesticulated to herself, a bit of a defeated look to her. Jazmín shook her head no.  She got closer and sat next to her on the bed, and Flor sat down too. She’d never meant for Flor to be uncertain in any way with their friendship, and she reckoned Flor had misinterpreted her uncertainty towards spending the night with her as her disliking her, when the reality was that it was quite the opposite. She liked her _too much_ and the last thing she wanted was for her to feel insecure about them, and how special the moments they shared were.

 

 

“Flor, look at me.” She whispered, reaching over and tilting her chin up. Flor found her eyes and held her look. “You’re my best friend in the entire world. I love spending time with you. I’m really sorry if I ever made you feel like I didn’t,” She reinforced. “But I do.  Being in the deck with you after my shift is the best part of my day. It blurs out all the bad bits,”

 

 

Flor inclined her body towards her. She supported her weight on her hands and landed a long kiss on her cheek. Jazmín let her eyes flutter closed, and a second later felt a second kiss, this time a little closer to the space where her jaw met her ear, and Jazmín fisted her hands with as much force as she could, trying to prevent herself from reaching out and pulling Florencia’s face to hers and kissing her, all lips and tongue and sheer unadultered _want_.

 

 

“Do you want to do anything now?” Flor asked, and Jazmín bit the inside of her cheek. She felt her face get impossibly warm. “Like maybe _scissoring-_ sorry, sorry, a uh. A movie?” The brunette’s face reddened slightly as well, and if Jazmín wasn’t so stupidly affected by the moment they’d just shared like a god damn 12 year old, she’d laugh.  

 

 

Instead, she coughed to clear her throat. “I’m gonna get changed, yeah?” She had to take a little time to herself.

 

  
She got up and found her bag, anxiously pulling out a sweater and some shorts.

  


* * *

 

  
  
She stood in front of the bathroom mirror, her heart beating out of her chest. She had to learn to police herself when she was with Flor. They were friends. Friends touch each other. Friends give each other cheek kisses. And friends hold hands. Friends, well, friends give each other loving looks... but do friends smile at each other _that_ way, the way she’d never seen her do with Daniel or anyone else? Do friends constantly touch each other in any way they could, the way she did it even if it was just a hand on her arm while they chatted away in the middle of her shift? And Christ, would friends, when they thought their friend wasn’t looking, stare at said friend like _that_? 

 

 

Was the thrill of the moment they’d just shared making her see things? Was Jazmín projecting her feelings? Was it purely wishful thinking?

 

 

Jesus Christ, she was getting married. She was getting married, and here Jazmín stood, in the middle of her godforsaken bathroom, overanalysing every little detail of their relationship. _What the fuck_.

 

 

She washed her face, trying to relax. She wasn’t going to think about this now. She was going to do this for Flor and forget about everything else.

 

 

* * *

  


 

She slid under the covers and laid on her side, facing a blanket-concealed Flor. The bed was comfortably big and she made sure to leave plenty of space between them; She didn’t want to make the brunette uncomfortable, least of all in a situation like this, when she chose Jazmín to keep her company at a stressing time – to share her bed of all things.

 

 

A bright flash engulfed Flor’s room and outside, she could hear hard rain lashing the windowpanes and thunder crashing through the sky. She was glad she’d stayed with the brunette. It would be hard to get home in weather like that, no matter the means of transportation, and a warm feeling immersed itself deep in her chest with the knowledge that the other woman went looking for her, just in case she was still in the hotel this late at night, to make sure she would stay safe until the morning.

 

 

She looked over at her, small grin working its way to her as she was about to tease her for going to sleep directly after the offer of a movie, until she heard Flor trying to suppress her tics under the covers.

 

  
“Flor? Are you okay?” She questioned.

 

 

A tiny “Yes,” was delivered from under the blankets, muffled and terribly unconvincing.

 

 

Jazmín got completely under the blankets as well. She removed the brunette’s hands from her face and revealed a clearly very distressed Florencia, with tightly closed eyes and whispered tics. She felt her chest tighten in worry. She placed her hand on her hair, carefully combing through it, and did her best to talk with the softest voice she could muster.

 

 

“I used to not like storms either, did you know?” She whispered. With the admission, Flor covered Jazmín’s hand with hers, brought it to the pillow next to her head and opened her eyes curiously.

 

 

“You? No...”

 

She nodded, thumb caressing the hand that covered hers. Florencia lightly brushed her chin over their joined hands. “I used to get so scared I would run to my dad’s room. He didn’t like it one bit,” She wrinkled her nose. “But he tried to understand. Well, as much as someone like him could, in his own way. So he’d let me sleep in his room with him, and kiss my forehead, tuck me in. You could tell he was a little awkward. But it’s one of the best memories I have with him to this day. Sometimes I’d pretend I was scared of something just so I could lay there with him a little bit. He caught up fast, though.” Jazmín confessed, nostalgic, and bit her lip. Flor watched her intently a gloomy smile painting her lips. She seemed a bit less anxious.  


 

“Did you miss him a lot growing up?” She murmured.  


 

“I did. But it is what it is. I keep the good memories with him very close to my heart.”  


 

There was more thunder, a bit louder this time, and Flor’s hand tightened her hold on Jazmín’s with the same intensity she kept her eyes closed.

 

 

Jazmín adjusted herself, resting her elbow on the bed and her head on her elbow. She unlaced their fingers and carefully ran hers over the length of Florencia’s arm, slowly, up and down. When she opened her eyes, Jazmín offered her a tiny, comforting grin and the smaller woman seemed to relax a little more with the gesture.

 

 

“When I was little I really wanted a dog. He never really let me have one because he thought it was too much of a responsibility for someone so small. He was out for most of the day, so I’d have to look after the dog by myself, yeah?” She shared. “We had people working in our house, but my dad thought there was no point in giving me a pet only to hire someone to look after them. So then, after a lot of insisting, and I mean _a lot_ of insisting, he gave me a pet he thought would be fairly easily taken care of.” Flor looked at her, the expectant look on her face and curious smile easily something she could get used to seeing this up close, everyday. “So he gave me this little lizard.”  


  
“A little lizard? And you wanted a _dog_?”

  
  
Jazmín laughed. “Yeah, but just hear me out: he gave me this tiny little lizard – Julian, we called him – and a tank to keep him in, all these things you need. The thing is, though. Julian wouldn’t stop growing. We had a big house, but we soon found out it was too small for him. He’d escape every night and bite my dad’s toes while he was asleep.”

 

  
  
Flor’s laugh filled the entire room, and Jazmín felt oddly proud of herself for being the one responsible for that reaction. She beamed.

 

 

“So Julian grew and grew and grew, and as it turned out, Julian was a god damn iguana, and while he was my son I was also about six, and terrified of him. My dad’s toes also weren’t too thrilled, so we ended up giving him to people who actually knew and had the proper space to take care of him. In the end, the guy who sold him to my dad probably didn’t have the best day of his life when we found out it was in fact an iguana, Julian found new toes to bite and I didn’t get a puppy.” She wrinkled her nose. “Got a good story, though.”

 

 

The brunette nodded, unabashedly bold care shining through her eyes. Jazmín’s fingers fluttered over her hand.

 

 

“What’s the best memory you have with your dad?”

 

She knew talking about Mario with Flor had always been a touchy subject, but every time she told her a story about him it seemed to awaken a nostalgic place in her heart and she always seemed more happy than sad to share her memories.  


 

“The best one?” Flor said, a tiny smile starting to form on her lips, a thoughtful look on her face.

 

 

“Mmmhm.” Jazmín nodded.

 

 

“God, there are so many. I wouldn’t know where to start.”

 

 

The redhead continued looking at her. “Start with whatever you remember first and we’ll work our way through it,” She liked listening to Flor’s stories; She liked listening to Flor, period. But getting to know everything that had made her become the Florencia that was laying next to her was something she had a particular interest in. She definitely knew her to be one of the bravest and most genuine people she’d ever met, and it was such a mystery to her how, after going through so much, she’d still come out of all of it as kind hearted as she was. As giving as she was. “We do have a whole lot of time...”

  


Jazmín’s sentence earned her a shy kiss on her palm and eyes that danced in the darkness of the room. “I hope everyone gets their own Jaz in their lifetime.”

 

 

She felt tears prickle her eyes, overwhelmed with not only this particular sentence, but the whole night. “Come on, tell me about your dad. You always make it sound like he was... quite the character,”

 

 

Flor seemed to notice her distraction tactic and still relished on their little moment, opting for leaving it alone. “There was this one time we were out of power. Keep in mind we lived in a big, big house,” she started, flinging Jazmín’s hand around to give her the idea of a big, open space. Jazmín bit her lip hard to refrain from laughing. “I was about five, I think. My mother was out of town. Now, Virginia and I were scared, but to protect her image of Big, Brave Sister she did her best to pretend she wasn’t. Not that it did much to fool my dad and I, eh? I, on the other hand, was crying a lot, as you can imagine,”

 

 

Jazmín cooed her sympathies and adjusted her hand supporting her head, watching Flor curiously. “What did Mario do?”

 

 

“Oh, he collected every flashlight he could find in our house, and you do remember how neurotic my mother is, right? So you know there were _a few_. And he found us blankets and pillows and like, even those inflatable mattresses-“  


 

“What! I can’t believe it!” The redhead gushed. She freed her hair from the messy bun it was in, running her hands through it, and felt more than saw Flor’s intense gaze on her. She suppressed a grin.  

 

 

“He did! We helped him inflate the mattresses and everything. And then he made us a fort and brought us a bunch of snacks and this old portable DVD we had. We stayed there all night - even after the power went back on,” She had such a purely fond look on her face Jazmín got a little taste of what it was like to be close to a parent like that; She realized she felt the exact same way about her grandmother.

 

 

Both her and Flor had lost the parental figures they had closest to them, and while it was more bitterweet than anything else, in the end she was glad they had each other to share memories like this. She was sure Flor would love to hear about her grandmother, and she was even more certain that her grandmother would love Flor.

 

 

“Tell me something... Has Vir always been as protective of you as she is nowadays?”

 

 

“Oh, yeah. Always. Did you know she once punched three kids for making fun of my tourette? They all went home crying.”

 

 

“Nooooooo...” Jazmín whispered, throwing her head back and giggling behind her hand. “She would, though. She would.”

 

 

“It’s very Vir, isn’t it?”  

 

 

“It is, but they deserved it, Flor. I’m glad you’ve always had her to hold your back.”

 

 

A comfortable silence washed over them. Jazmín felt that her jaw just might fall off any time from smiling so much and that her entire body was made of gelatin. She had had a tiring day, but that was definitely not the reason for how entirely mushy she felt; she knew for a fact it was all because of a considerably tiny brunette that laid right there next to her, all shiny eyes, messy hair and sleepy grins. Who knew one could feel like this with only a presence? Small touches like the ones they shared? A voice? She certainly didn’t.

 

  
Jazmín heard thunder once again and realized all the while they’d been talking, the storm had went on and Florencia hadn’t shown any signs of lasting nervousness. She herself forgot about it.

 

 

“Are you tired?” She questioned.

 

 

Flor went to shake her head no and got interrupted by a big, loud yawn. This earned her a laugh from Jazmín, who just stretched herself to adjust the brunette’s blanket over her. “Betrayed by her own yawn, huh?” 

 

 

“I want to keep talking to you.” She confessed.

 

  
Her heart warmed up about a thousand degrees at that. “We can keep talking tomorrow, I promise. We should rest now.” She definitely did _not_ want to go to sleep now, but anything that’d make her stop thinking about how much she wanted to fill Flor’s entire face with kisses right then would be a big help. What wasn’t a big help, whatsoever, was the pout that appeared on her face, rapidly consumed by a little grin. She nodded.

 

 

“Goodnight, Flor.” Jazmín laid staring at the ceiling, pulled the covers up to her neck and closed her eyes as tightly as she could.

 

 

Flor’s bed was comfortable, but, well. It was _Flor’s bed_ and everything smelled too much like her. Not only that, there was the fact that the woman herself was laying right next to her.

 

 

Jazmín could say she had imagined sleeping with Florencia quite a few times, but none of them had quite been under these circumstances.  
  


It made it hard to empty her mind. She tried hard to focus on her own breaths and did her best to block out where she was.  


 

“Night, Jaz.”

  

 

* * *

  

 

She woke up in a bit of a foggy daze; it was already light outside and a warm, heavy weight had settled itself on top of her. A soft leg had landed right between hers, the skin to skin contact making her close her legs tighter together as to relish on the feeling. Soft lips ever so slightly brushed over her neck as to release hot puffs of air. Her sweater had ridden up considerably during the night, and a hand had found her skin, hot palm splashed over her abdomen. She drowned herself on the feelings, nuzzling the head next to hers, breathing in on the familiar scent of strawberries, and mint, and- oh. _Oh no_.

 

 

Her eyes shot open. She could feel her entire body in flames everywhere, tingling, melting, her senses multiplying themselves by the second.

 

 

She tried to move only to realize she was quite literally stuck under Florencia, and of course, clearly this was just something she should have known – her leg went a little higher up as to keep her there, brushing over her where she could feel herself _pulsing_ and nuzzled her nose behind Jazmín’s ear. Jazmín suppressed a moan.

 

 

“Hmm, Flor,” She whispered sharply, the panic in her voice as clear as day. The fact was that she was getting worked up fast and while having Flor pressed against her like this was a feeling she particularly enjoyed to say the very least, the brunette didn’t seem to be aware of anything that was happening and this could turn things very uncomfortable very fast. “Flopi. Flopi, wake up,”

 

 

Flor slowly stirred and Jazmín froze in place, unable to take her eyes off her face or allow any of her muscles to move. She was about to open her mouth. She was ready to apologize for the whole situation and to attempt to explain herself _somehow_ , until the brunette moved her face from her neck to the side of Jazmín’s face. Soft lips ever so slightly brushed over the corner of her mouth as to release hot puffs of air. The redhead skipped a breath, a small gasp escaping her lips.

 

 

 Somehow, that did it. Florencia stopped moving entirely. She held her breath.

 

 

Flor slowly blinked her eyes open, sleepy daze written all over her face, and met the other woman’s eyes. Somehow, she didn’t seem shocked at all at their position – what seemed to surprise her, whatsoever, was exactly what it did to the woman laying next to her.

 

 

Was she awake all this time?

 

 

 Jazmín was unable to feel the passage of time starting from that moment.

 

 

She suddenly became very aware of the brunette’s hand that rested on her stomach when the fingers on her exposed skin lightly scratched it, nails digging in. Jazmín’s abs clenched immediately, and Florencia did it again, stronger this time. She felt her eyes cloud over. The redhead couldn’t help the small whimper that left her lips.

 

 

Florencia skipped a breath. She hadn’t done it on purpose, Jazmín realized – and she seemed considerably affected by it with how her eyes darted back and forth Jazmín’s and her sleep-swollen lips.

 

 

Jazmín moved her leg out of utter restlessness, and quickly learned that her own leg was nested very tightly between Florencia’s, her own heat pressing against Jazmín’s thigh. She felt the older woman move her hips the slightest bit, an automatic search for friction, and their eyes locked. Jazmín just couldn’t breathe with the the way her body burned; she thought she might as well melt into the other woman out of sheer _want_. Florencia leisurely brushed her lips behind her ear and her lips parted, eyes fluttering closed and rolling to the back of her head. She felt the brush of a nose against her jaw, then against her cheek. The thigh wedged up between hers slowly, experimentally pushed up higher, and the redhead couldn’t help but rock into it. She bit her lip so hard she could taste the hint of blood.

 

When she opened her eyes she was met with full blown dark eyes staring back at her so intensely they might as well be burning holes on hers. She’d never seen a sight so heart-stopping her entire life.   

 

 

“Jaz...” Florencia croaked, so softly the other woman wouldn’t have heard it if the room wasn’t so quiet. Jazmín’s fingertips slowly traveled from the brunette’s arm to her waist, let her fingers pull them flush. They both gasped. Flor’s eyes took possession of Jazmín’s lips and she licked them in anticipation. The brunette placed her hand on her face, slowly ran the pad of her thumb over her bottom lip.  Jazmín brushed her lips over it, depositing a small, tentative kiss, and heard a sharp intake of breath. She did it again, more certain this time, and held Flor’s eyes as she nibbled it then slowly soothed it with her tongue. Florencia pressed her leg against her again, steadily, and the hungry look on her face would be imprinted forever in Jazmín’s memory. She felt like she might combust at any moment.

 

 

Jazmín felt herself lean in and Florencia’s hand slid to the back of her neck to tangle her fingers in her hair, bringing her closer. Florencia bumped the tip of her nose against Jazmín’s, a small, frustrated whimper washing over them, and she felt the ghost of the other woman’s lips against hers, their breaths mingling at last, when the door was swung open and crashed against the doorframe with a loud BANG.

 

 

“Rise and shine, sunshine!” Miranda shouted, skipping into the room.

 

 

Both women jumped apart like they’d been burned and Jazmín felt more than saw Flor’s look of complete and utter _panic,_ her own heart sinking in her chest – the reality of what they were about to do settling over her like an unmesurable weight.

 

 

She felt hot tears prickling at the back of her eyes. “Fuck, Flor, Flor I’m _so sorry,”_

 

 

“Hey, Jazmín?!” The blonde woman exclaimed, and the room fell silent.  

 

 

Jazmín got up in a rush, nervously tripping over her feet. Miranda laughed. “Where are you going, Jazmín? You look like you’re ready for your walk of shame, eh? Ah, Flor, you don’t have to look so _serious_ it’s a j-” She went to look at the other woman for support and as the redhead shied away from her eyes and went around the room urgently collecting her things, she realized there was something off. “W-“

 

  
She sharply closed the door behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> have this ridiculously long chapter as an easter present. xo

Something Jazmín had always been, besides patient? Upfront. Head-on. By all means, forthright.

 

 

Something she’d never expected to happen, however? Norway knighting a penguin. Pineapples getting sweeter with the addition of salt. Learning that baby rabbits are actually called kittens. Dry-humping Florencia Estrella. In her bed. At about 6AM. On a work day.

 

 

And so, after she’d fled the one and only’s room, she’d come into the kitchen to face a considerably surprised Javo, who promptly engulfed her into his arms and rubbed her back to try and tranquilize her. He made sure she went home, and though he insisted on staying with her, she stressed that she needed time to be alone and clear her head. “Don’t punish yourself like this, Juanca,” he’d said. But why shouldn’t she? How _couldn’t_ she?

 

 

Staying home didn’t do much for her. It didn’t clear her head at all. If anything, it made it worse. She couldn’t take away the image of her there with her, of her taking care of a teary eyed, drunk Flor, of them hugging tightly, of her confessing to Jazmín that she could always turn to her to brighten up any bad moments she had.

 

 

They needed to talk, she needed to apologize for everything she’d done. God, she’d never been one to lie, least of all to Flor, but she needed to look her in the eye and say, no, _promise,_ that she didn’t mean any of it. That she hadn’t been dying to have her close to her exactly like that. That she didn’t want to do it for the rest of her life.

 

  
She didn’t know what to do with the vivid memory of them spending the night together, of them sharing stories and exchanging timid touches and squinty, smiley eyes. She didn’t know what to do with the secret smiles they shared, and the look Flor would give her of complete and utter love. She didn’t know what to do when Flor touched her like _that,_ and whispered her name like _that_. What did it mean?

 

  
Flor trusted her. She trusted her to protect her and give her words of comfort, to reassure her that everything was going to be okay, that she was loved. And now here she was. Phone off, drinking in bed, still wearing the clothes that smelled of strawberries and mint and Florencia Estrella and _hurt_.

 

 

Her fingers fluttered over her neck where Flor had nuzzled her so softly and she sighed. She took a big swig of the bottle in her hands, sniffed her sweater and hugged her pillow tightly. Christ. She missed her.

 

 

* * *

 

 

When she showed up to work the next day, the kitchen was utter and complete mayhem.

 

 

Muñeca and Fede were chopping vegetables so viciously Jazmín thought they might chop off one or two fingers, faces clearly distressed under Javo’s orders.  All three of them shouted over each other, the chef’s face going so red the vein on his forehead threatened to pop at any second. Miranda was arranging the plates, clearly amused by it all; and another poor helper, who looked so terrified he seemed to be shaking, was cutting up a chicken with what Jazmín noted to be a peeling knife.

 

 

“And you! What’s your name again?” Javo stressed.

 

 

“Uh... B-Balbino, sir...”

 

  
“Well, _Balbino_ , does that chicken look like a fucking potato to y-“

 

 

Jazmín choked on a laugh and handed the poor man the right knife before he could collapse on the spot. “You’re too much, Grace.”

 

 

Javo seemed surprised to see her there, quickly cleaning his hands on his apron and depositing a kiss on her forehead.  

 

 

“East, West, home’s best, Cacho has returned at last,” He said, looking her in the eye and smiling despite the completely stressed out situation he was not too many seconds ago. He nodded questioningly to make sure she was okay and she offered him a small grin. “This kitchen can’t live a day without you.”

 

 

Javo gesticulated to the mess of helpers who all had their eyes on them, and clapped annoyingly so they’d get back to work.

 

 

“Thought I’d be more useful giving you a hand here than at home,” She said. Jazmín didn’t want to get into details because they weren’t alone. She knew she could count on Javo to give her some time to think, but the thing was that in the end, having so much time to think things through did she opposite of helping. It only served to make her overanalyze every interaction she’d had with Flor, every moment they’d spent together, and the particular night things had gotten out of control. She didn’t need that. She needed to keep herself busy.

 

 

 And so she tied up her apron around her hips, blinked back the hint of tears she could feel threaten the back of her eyes, and offered him a determined look. “Come on, keep me busy, Grace,”

 

 

“We have a big event organized for tonight. Events, parties, I don’t know why Carla keeps throwing these god damn parties, every single day is a different party. I’m starting to think I’m gonna turn into a walking, breathing fucking canapé, Jazmín,”

 

 

“Wait, what event is it this time?”

 

 

Balbino dropped the knife in his hands while watching them, and Javo sighed and gesticulated to him with exasperation.

 

 

“Eh, Balbino, you don’t make it easy do you?” She said, shaking her head and handing him the knife.

 

 

“No no no, don’t use it like that _,_ you need to wash it first, _for fuck’s sake,_ “

 

 

She snorted at Javo’s exasperated answer, poor Balbino placing both of his hands on his head with the most tragic look she’d ever seen.

 

 

The kitchen door was opened with force and she heard Javo clicking his tongue in disapproval before raising her head curiously.

 

 

She felt the entirety of the kitchen blur out and her eyes focused only on Florencia, bursting into the kitchen after an enraged Carla. In the background, she could hear the latter direct a condescending _Well, look who’s decided to show her pretty face here,_ and she met it with disregard. All she could really see, all her body could register was a very particular, small brunette stumbling into the room.

 

 

Upon meeting her eyes, Flor immediately looked like a deer caught in headlights, freezing every single muscle in her body, eyes so wide Jazmín was afraid she’d have to pop them back into her head. It was very much a visual representation of her nervous tourette outbursts.

 

 

“ _Ass, ass,_ ”

 

 

There it was.

 

 

She couldn’t deny it hurt that she caused this kind of reaction on Flor, but there wasn’t much she could do after the events of yesterday. She wanted to go over to her and talk things through, to apologize and understand what was in her mind. But she didn’t know _how_. She felt her feet rooted to the ground. Stuck. She didn’t know how to express to her everything she was feeling, everything she’d never known how to tell her.

 

 

She could feel the air around them running thick with words they’d left unsaid. She knew Flor felt it too, if her stiffness at seeing Jazmín translated into anything. It appeared that her staring didn’t help, either, because the brunette started to move her shoulder anxiously.

 

 

And so she busied herself by taking Balbino’s knife in hands and continuing his job for him, waving him off.

 

 

He looked so grateful she was worried he might take her head between his hands and smack her right on the lips.

 

 

“Carla, if you rush me again...” Javo started, going around the kitchen and taking a pile of tupperware out of the fridge.

 

 

“I brought you a free pair of hands, Javier,” Carla stated. “But I see _someone_ woke up from her beauty sleep,”

 

 

Jazmín scrunched up her face and raised a hand for her to stop, but Javo spoke before her. “Are you done? Okay. We have enough hands. In fact, we have too many hands. Take Balbino with you. Go, go.”

 

“ _Who?_ ”

 

 

The man in question raised his hand and joined them, and Carla confusedly stared at him.

 

 

“See? I told you- _hm_ they were okay. You didn’t need to- _manhandle my_ _ass_ drag me all this way, Carla,” Flor said. She purposefully avoided the Jazmín’s eyes and locked arms with her sister, trying her best to drag her out of the kitchen, while Carla looked her over suspiciously.

 

 

“What’s going on with you?”

 

 

“What? Nothing. Nothing’s going on. Let’s go, Leo asked me to - _hmm_ find him some clean towels, there’s a lot to d _-fugitive squid ring, fucking coward,_ ” Flor choked out, going about as red as the tomatoes Trini was chopping and fleeing the kitchen in a mix of nervous tics and deep embarrassment.

 

 

She felt the curious eyes of Miranda on her then on the door, with a gleam in her eyes that said she’d just put together a bit of a puzzle.

 

 

Jazmín looked away, doing her best clueless face, and went back to working on the severely neglected chicken.

 

 

“I’m the only one who came out lucid, can you see that? I live among fucking lunatics,” Carla told them before she left, with such a deep-rooted certainty in her voice it made Javo choke on his drink, snorting, an amused look on his face. Miranda trailed behind her sister.

 

 

“Ah, marvelous, wonderful. In this kitchen people come and go as they deem fit, it’s that simple.” Javo grumbled.

 

 

She sighed heavily, cleaning her hands on her apron and covering her face with her hands. She couldn’t handle this. She thought she could, but she couldn’t. Not when Flor was avoiding her like this. She thought they’d just move on and get back to what they were before; After all, her feelings had always been there and she’d always been able to push them down when the situation called for it. She’d been able to push them down when they’d kissed in the club. She’d been able to push them down when Flor had told her _I wish I could find a guy who takes care of me, and loves me, and gets me the way you do_. She’d been able to push them down when she told her she was getting married. She’d always been able to push them down. The solo occasion she wasn’t able to do it, however, ended up being what got them into the mess they found themselves in. And how could she cope with that?

 

 

“Look at me, Cacho,” Javo asked her, and she met his eyes. “You can do this. We’ll get through the day, and then later we’ll get our heads full of alcohol and eight hundred cheese rolls at this stupid party Carla’s throwing. What do you say?”

 

 

She gave him a teary laugh. “I can live with that.”

 

 

“Look at me again. No, but this time, really look at me. Listen. We can play strip poker, you can look at my greek god, sculpted body, have a realization. Who says I won’t turn your life around?”

 

 

“Shut up, Graciela.”

 

* * *

 

 

She was a coward. She was the biggest coward she’d ever heard of.

 

 

She was in the back room collecting several items Javo had requested while their helpers were on their lunch break, the silence in the kitchen after hours of chaos feeling like much needed music to her ears. She opened the door to the kitchen with some difficulty, given she carried her weight on condiments, and when she took sight of the inside she wasn’t ready for what waited for her.

 

 

Flor was stretching her entire body to reach a bowl located on a high shelf, her thin yellow dress riding impossibly high and her thigh muscles flexing under the effort. She assumed Flor certainly worked out, given how strong her legs appeared to be, and this position did quite a good job of demonstrating it.

 

 

She suddenly felt her mouth get dry.

 

 

She ferociously blinked back the thought of having those muscles wrapped around her head, breath starting to get heavier.

 

 

The brunette got on her tiptoes to finally reach the bowl and for a mere second, she got a glance of the side of Flor’s breast, briefly uncovered by the dress.

 

 

It made her entire body burn.

 

 

She closed her eyes as tightly as she could and went to distressedly move her bangs out of her face, until she realized she had a box of condiments in hands.

 

 

But it was too late.

 

 

The noise reverberated throughout the entire kitchen and an agitated Florencia jumped, clutching her chest. She then paused and rushed to help her collect everything, a restless look on her face. “ _Clumsy clam,_ ” She muttered under her breath.

 

 

Jazmín could still feel her body as hot as the sun, nervously collecting everything with shaky hands and a deep embarrassment settling over her for staring at Flor like that. She didn’t know what she was thinking. As she looked over at the brunette, Jazmín’s position over her made it so she could see just under the dress and _dear God_ she quickly averted her eyes anywhere but to Florencia, trying to put everything back in the box as fast as possible to get out of this situation and flee the room.

 

 

She kept grabbing everything in a rush, eyes fixed on the floor, until she heard an anxious voice.

 

  
“Jaz, - _dumbass,_ look at your finger! You have to be more careful than that!” She took her by the hand, bleeding finger included, and started washing it under the sink with mix of a worried and exasperated frown. Jazmín bit her lip to stop the tingling sensation that demanded her to drown Flor in kisses.

 

 

“I’m a little disastrous today, aren’t I?” She said a little sheepishly, watching her with careful eyes. She tried her best to memorize every little detail on her face; she didn’t know when would be the next time Flor would want to be around her again.

 

 

She realized the way things were going, she wouldn’t have that many other opportunities to clear things up between them. They rarely had the time to be alone in the hotel except for the nights, and those would be easily avoidable for Flor. If her friend wanted to cease with their friendship, that was a right she had. But Jazmín had the right to apologize, too. And this was the moment. “I’m so sorry, Flor.“

 

 

Flor looked at her, heaving a sigh so small she wouldn’t have noticed it if her eyes hadn’t switched to her lips. Flor watched her with such soft eyes she almost felt like they were her fingertips instead, touching, brushing, taking her time. She observed her eyes, then her nose, as if counting every freckle. Then her lips.

 

 

She licked her own as a reflex.

 

 

“It’s not that serious, Jaz, just be more careful next time.“

 

 

“No, that’s not what I meant. Flor, please hear me out, yes?” She said, the anxious look returning to Flor’s face. However, she kept her grip on Jazmín’s finger, wrapping it with a napkin, and giving her a tiny nod of the head to signalize she was listening. “Last night... I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable. For doing what I did. I don’t like being like this with you, making you mad, hurting you. I know you’re with Dani so believe me when I say that the last thing I want to do is to make you think I’m trying to get in between the two of you-“

 

 

Flor looked at her, confused, and frustratedly ran her hands through her hair, flipping it to the other side. “No, Jaz. That’s the last thing I would think of you. I’m not mad at you,” Shaky fingertips brushed the back of Jazmín’s hand, slowly skimming over the expanse of every finger, every knuckle. “I’m mad at myself,” She murmured, almost exasperated, intense eyes boring into hers before continuing, “You see, the thing is that I _wanted_ y-“

 

 

The door was blasted open, Javo, Miranda and the new helpers entering the kitchen, voices rising to a clamor. They both jumped apart with an anxious look painted all over their faces.

 

 

Javo looked at them, all too knowing, and threw her a warning look. Jazmín, as a means to busy herself and her quivering body, grabbed the nearest bowl she could find and stuffed whatever was in it inside her mouth, chomping on it.

 

 

“Jazmín, did you just… did you just eat a handful of peppers?” Miranda asked worryingly, eyeing the bowl in her hand.

 

 

Jazmín looked at her, confused, and shook her head no before looking down at the bowl of bird’s eye chilies. Instantly, she felt her body register exactly what was happening, tears falling vehemently, her mouth burning so much she thought her jaw might drop to the floor. She fixed her eyes on Miranda, this time nodding yes fervently.

 

 

“Jesus fucking Christ, Jazmín! Stop munching on it! _-Holy fucking shit,_ ”

 

 

It was going to be a long day.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The next time she saw Flor was that night.

 

 

The sisters were throwing a big party in the hotel, and Jazmín and Javo were finally able to rest after a day of running around the kitchen like two dizzy cockroaches.

 

 

They were all well dressed for the night and Jazmín, Javo and Leo had escaped to the terrace, where other guests enjoyed their drinks. Fede was at the bar with Miranda by his side, helping attend to all the guests. Jazmín had to admit that Fede could make damn good drinks, if a little on the strong side. The night had barely started and she was already light headed, and from the dazed look on Javo’s and Leo’s faces, they weren’t too far from her.

 

 

“What will you have, Jazmín?” Fede asked her once they approached the bar, a funny look on his face.

 

 

“The one with hmmmm… the little…” She squinted her eyes, making an OK sign with her thumb and index finger, “The tiny…”

 

 

“Grapes?” Leo piped up, and Jazmín looked at him like he’d saved her life, reaching out for him and hugging him, mumbling _thank you, thank you_. His face beamed up proudly, and Jazmín could swear she saw his eyes shine with tears.

 

 

“She’s so docile when she’s drunk…” Miranda noted, and Leo agreed, sniffing.

 

 

“Maybe something a little weaker?” Fede suggested as he looked her over, clearly trying not to laugh, and she shook her finger no. When she looked over at Javo, he was sitting on the bar stool, hunched over, hand supporting his chin as he dreamily stared at Virginia dancing inside the hotel.

 

 

She swiftly pushed his supporting hand away from his face and he stumbled from the stool, glaring at her grumpily, which only made her cackle loudly.

 

 

“Oh, my dear Graciela…” She lamented, closing her eyes sorrowfully. “You’re so god damn whipped…”

 

 

Javo kept his grumpy face on but seemed to have accepted it. “Fede, give me the apples,”

 

 

“Me too, give me the apples, friend,” Leo said.

 

 

She turned to look in the direction Javo still had his hazy eyes focused on, and right beside Virginia, she found her.

 

 

She wore a simple indigo blue dress with long sleeves, dancing to the rapid beat of the music with eyes closed, hips swaying hypnotically, arms above her head.

 

 

She took a long swig of her drink, feeling her heart beat fast as the blinking lights of the dance floor revealed this side of Flor. Free. Without any burdens. Nothing holding her back. Jazmín could almost feel her head following her hips from side to side, mesmerized.

 

 

“Jazmín?” She heard Miranda’s quiet voice behind her, but couldn’t take her eyes off Flor.

 

 

“Mmm?”

 

 

“What are you looking at? You look like a bit of a puppy there,”

 

 

“Mmm.”

 

 

Miranda looked in the direction she looked and found Flor with certain ease. She then bumped her shoulder with Jazmín’s, snickering and making a ridiculous flute with her hands to hum an unfortunate version of _My heart will go on_.

 

 

“I’ll never let go, Flor. I’ll never let go,” She quoted, dramatically.

 

 

Jazmín kept looking at Flor, her heart beating so fast she could feel it in her throat, threatening to jump out of her mouth and go after her itself.

 

 

“She does look good tonight,” Miranda told her, her care for her sister all but evident in her voice.

 

 

“Beautiful.”

 

 

“Are you okay?” Miranda carefully pulled her to a quieter corner, away from the group. She then turned her head around and made her face her. Jazmín slowly blinked back at her. “Jazmín?”

 

 

“Yes,” She breathed, turning her eyes to Flor’s hands tangling in her dark hair and freeing it from the tidy bun on top of her head. She then shook it, throwing her head back in a contagious laugh.

 

 

Jazmín bit her lip. “Never better.”  

 

 

* * *

 

 

Once they all had new drinks in hand they went back to the dance floor, and Javo wordlessly pointed to Virginia, going straight to her. Leo extended his hand towards her, a goofy look taking over his face.

 

 

She accepted it and wrapped her hands around his shoulders, both of them dancing to the rapid beat of the music as best as they could while holding their drinks.

 

 

In the haze of so many bodies close together, she saw her. To her right, several feet apart, arms around Daniel but eyes completely fixed on Jazmín and Leo. Each time the people around her jumped and danced she lost sight of her, and each time she found her again, she was a little nearer.

 

 

She found it adorable.

 

 

She lost sight of Flor once more, this time for enough time to leave her so curious Leo kept asking if there was something wrong with her shoulder – with how much she kept looking over it. When she finally found her, she noted the sneaky brunette to be standing directly in front of her.

 

 

Jazmín could barely contain her giggle when she felt her _accidentally_ bump them.

 

 

“Oh, hey!” Flor shouted over the mass of bodies and loud music. Seeing her this close allowed Jazmín to observe new details she couldn’t before. She noted the contrast of her skin with the dark blue of the dress; the delicate, golden necklace with a tiny flower; the dark makeup. She looked exquisite.

 

 

Upon hearing Flor’s voice, Daniel looked back and found them, a brief flash of comprehension going over his eyes. His arms tightened around Florencia and she squirmed, loosening herself, eyes still focused on Jazmín.

 

 

“Flopi!” She said, a stupidly giddy feeling washing over her, grin so wide her cheeks started to hurt.

 

 

“Here are the two love birds!” Leo shouted, earning himself an _unintentional_ stamp on the foot from Jazmín and an anxious chuckle from Florencia. Leo meant well more often than not, she knew he did. Did she have the patience for him, however? Questionable.

 

 

“So, what are you two doing?” She asked them, gracing her lips with a bit of an odd smile that still managed to stay there even as she spoke, eyes fixed directly on Leo. Jazmín thought it was endearing, if a little bit on the creepy side, and it made the whole exchange that much more priceless.

 

 

“Uh, dancing,” Leo said, eyeing the three of them with uncertainty, as clueless as one could be, bless his heart. Flor nodded fervently, a nervous laugh escaping her lips, and subtly reached over to slap Daniel’s hand when he attempted to pull her closer once more. 

 

 

“Oh, yes, of course, of course,” With the weird smile still present, she made a pause, considering her next words. Her eyes fixed on Leo’s hands around Jazmín with such a vicious force she feared the small brunette might burn them on the spot. “But, - _hmmm_ together? As a… - _hmm_ a couple?...”

 

  
Jazmín quickly nodded her head no so ardently her whole body shook with her, but Daniel rushed to speak before she could,

 

  
“They look good together, don’t they, baby?” He said, pointedly looking at Flor, who just chuckled, blinking rapidly and biting the inside of her cheek.

 

 

“We’re not together in any way,” Jazmín explained. She wasn’t sure why she’d gotten so anxious over the prospect of Flor thinking they were together, but she couldn’t help wanting to leave no doubts.

 

 

“ _Hmm,_ ” She replied, looking them over with suspicious eyes. She almost looked… jealous. Jazmín didn’t dare name it that, she knew wishful thinking had never gotten her anywhere, much less in situations like the one she found herself in. Still, she was damned if Flor’s behavior wasn’t filling her stomach with butterflies and making her fingertips tingle, craving to tangle themselves into her hair and _pull_ her as close as possible. To tell her she was _hers_.

 

 

In a moment’s blunt courage, Jazmín heard herself blurt out, “You look beautiful tonight.” She thought she’d regret it as soon as it was out of her mouth, but it didn’t happen. She didn’t know if it was the alcohol, the pure frenzy of the night or the way Flor’s eyes flashed with something she’d only seen in that moment they shared between four walls and with her thigh between hers. But she didn’t regret saying it one bit.

 

 

“ _You_ look beautiful,” Flor replied. “You look like – _hmm_ Jessica Rabbit,”

 

 

“Jessica Rabbit?!” Jazmín replied, incredulous, throwing her head back and laughing, and Flor’s eyes went straight to her neck. She licked her lips.

 

 

Flor’s words surprised her. The brunette had always been very blunt, even when she didn’t mean to, but this time it felt like she’d been holding it back – trying to find the right moment to tell her, like a shared secret. Jazmín found it too adorable.

 

 

Daniel looked at them back and forth, then locked his fingers with Florencia’s and met her eyes. “Let’s go get some drinks, yeah?”

 

 

Flor shook her head no, but Jazmín offered her a small smile to say it was okay. It wasn’t her place to stand between them, and she wanted Flor to see she understood that.  Leo chose that exact moment to spin her around, what was left of her drink spilling all over the floor and her eyes almost bulging out of her skull. She sighed. “Leo, why are your choices always so damn questionable, tell me. Explain it to me.”

 

 

“My mom always mentions how I used to chew big chunks out of my crib like a little beaver, so I think I’ve just always done what no one else has the courage to, but wants to,” He informed her while she massaged her temples slowly, turning around to express to her friend how many times in the night she had _no clue_ what to say to Leo.

 

 

When she looked around, Flor and Daniel had left.

 

 

She ran her fingers through her hair, leaving without looking behind. “I’ll go get us more drinks,”

 

 

She wasn’t sure why she went after them. She had a bad feeling about what was happening, and it made her too nervous to leave it alone. She was aware it was a terrible idea, she knew she had to distance herself from Flor, but her intuition had other ideas. Her feet moved on their own. It was almost like she gravitated towards Florencia and everything that had to do with her. It was almost like there was a magnet connecting them and all she could do was let it lead her.

 

 

It took her a while to find them, especially with so many people crumpled up together and all the noise around them, but they weren’t at the bar. It wasn’t until she heard his voice, coming from a more silent spot near the entrance of the terrace, that she had an idea of what was happening.

 

 

“Do you really think I’m that dense? That I’m that stupid?”

 

 

She noted Flor to be distressed, moving her shoulder and humming tics every few seconds. She didn’t like it the least; if there was something Daniel didn’t know how to deal with, that something was Flor. She couldn’t bring herself to leave without making sure she was going to be okay.

 

 

Daniel had never been a violent person as far as she was aware, but he was easily irritable and he did tend to have quite the sharp tongue, so how could she know what would happen? How could she know Flor wouldn’t be the one to get hurt when that always seemed to happen when they had a disagreement?

 

 

She stood close to a big plant next to the couple, crossing her arms. She couldn’t see much, but hearing it would be enough to be certain Flor was going to be okay. As soon as she was sure of it, she’d leave.   

 

 

“I don’t understand why you have to bring this up every single day! What do you have against her? I don’t understand!”

 

 

“She’s never liked me, Florencia. Now I understand why, and don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m saying. Don’t give me that oblivious face. I know for a fact you can’t be that stupid.”

 

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about _you fucking jizzstain_ Daniel, she’s my best friend!”

 

 

“She’s your best friend? Is that why she undresses you with her eyes, Florencia? Is that why you look at her like you enjoy it?”

 

 

Jazmín sucked in a sharp breath, eyes almost bulging out of her skull. It seemed that their friendship had become a subject in their relationship. Daniel seemed to notice that Flor looked at her the way she did. He seemed to notice the energy they created every time they were in the same room.

 

 

She didn’t like the tone he had with her or the fact that he believed he had a say in Flor’s life like that. But, if anything, the fact that he was aware that something was going on between the two of them even before the incident in Flor’s room was, maybe, a sign that she wasn’t seeing things where there were none.

 

 

It made her heart beat so fast she could feel it in her throat.

 

 

“Is someone hiding behind that plant?” She heard Daniel say.

 

 

Right then and there, she realized she had two choices. One, getting up and facing him, admitting she’d been sneaking on them and standing her ground; or two, fleeing the scene by hiding behind groups of people, incorporating Tom Cruise himself in Mission Impossible.

 

 

The second option sounded quite appealing, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave Flor in a situation she felt she was entirety the one to blame. Flor didn’t deserve any of this.

 

 

She got up rapidly, feeling a rush of fearlessness, and positioned both her hands on her hips to ground herself. She deeply breathed in and out, then stepped aside, getting closer to the man.

 

 

Oh, but did she have a mouthful of things to say to him.

 

 

“Yes, Daniel. It’s me. I’m here to shed some light into that little head of yours. Listen to me, and listen to me well because I’m not going to repeat myself. Florencia is your girlfriend, she is _not_ your property. You cannot, and will not, talk to her like that again. You do _not_ have a say in her life, Daniel. I’ve had it with how much you disrespect her, and she is too understanding for her own good to let you know just how much your reckless behavior affects her. You’re never here to see it. You just drop off a present and leave. Oh, but isn’t that brave?” She pointed her finger directly to his face and started feeling all the blood rush to her head out of solid fury, the muscles in her neck tensing up. “If you have a problem with me, you come and talk to _me_. Not to Flor, not to anyone else but me. Am I clear?”

 

 

“ _Holy fucking dickweasel_ ,” Flor breathed.

 

 

There was utter and complete silence between the three of them. Jazmín took deep breaths to cool herself down. Both Flor and Daniel looked at her, astonished, but Daniel seemed to try and recompose himself, fixing his clothes and raising his head to look her down. He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, blinking with force as he tried to formulate something to say to her.

 

 

“But… Were you hiding behind that plant?” He said, finally. He placed his hands on his hips, imitating her to try and find some sense of power, but the gesture was unsuccessful.

 

 

“ _Really?_ ” Jazmín squinted at him, scratching the back of her neck to come up with some kind of explanation. She shook her head forcefully. She was going to stand her ground. She was only there to make sure Flor was okay, she wasn’t doing anything bad, only standing up for her friend. Was she pathetic with the execution? She was, in fact, pathetic with the execution. But could she turn this around? Absolutely. “You know what, yeah, so what? Can we focus on the real problem here?”

 

 

Flor subtly gave her a supportive thumbs up from behind Dani’s back, and she flashed her a secret grin.

 

 

“The real problem? Like you eavesdropping into our private conversation?”

 

 

As it turned out, she could _not_ turn it around.

 

 

“I… I wasn’t doing it on _purpose_ ,”

 

 

“Oh, really?” He questioned, glancing at her suspiciously. “What were you doing behind that plant then?”

 

 

She gave him an aggrieved sigh, shrugging and throwing her hands up in the air, doing her best insulted face to buy her some time to find an excuse.

 

 

Flor observed both of them like an attentive cat watching a ping pong match, but with a much more catastrophic energy.

 

 

She’d find it amusing if it wasn’t so completely tragic.

 

 

Jazmín was not a good liar. She’d never been a good liar. Lying made her anxious. Lying made her edgy. Once, when she was little, she’d stayed up until late and in the morning she couldn’t hide how tired she was. In the nervousness of it all she told her dad she was sick, because staying up late always displeased him. He made her stay home to be taken care of and the whole situation made her feel so bad she ended up _actually_ getting sick. Another time, Leo wanted her to help him carry these heavy boxes to the opposite side of the hotel. She said she couldn’t because she’d have to walk her dog. She was at work. _She didn’t even have a dog._

 

 

She nervously combed her fingers through her bangs, crossed her arms over her chest to maintain a confident pose she didn’t quite feel. “I was... Looking for something. Oh, yeah, hmm...” She looked around herself, trying to find something, _anything_ that someone might be looking for. There was nothing. Nothing. Out of sheer despair, she got down and held up the only thing she could find, God help her, “Here! I found it. Here you are uh… gum.” She’d never sounded so completely defeated in her entire life.

 

 

“…Chewed gum?”

 

 

“Daniel, who are you to judge her-“

 

 

Flor was interrupted by a sobbing Leo throwing himself into Jazmín’s arms, and she struggled to support herself. She gave him disoriented pats on the back, throwing Flor and Daniel a sorry look. She wasn’t sorry in the slightest – in fact, she could thank Leo for the rest of her life.

 

 

“I got a shrimp cocktail,” He explained through tears, “I really wanted it and then I got it and I was dancing, and here comes Carla and _splash_ , I spill it all over her, she said the shrimp went in between her boobs, that her dress is too tight so she can’t just stick her hand in, she has to take off the dress, but she can’t ‘cause it’s _so tight_ , so it’s stuck there for the rest of the night and it’s my fault. She said she could feel it every time she moved,”

 

 

Jazmín nodded mournfully, gesturing to Leo as sorrowfully as she could while leading him out into the terrace, enormous relief washing over her.

 

 

It’d been a long day.

 

 

* * *

 

  

She supported both elbows on the counter of the bar, letting her chin rest on her hands.

 

 

She didn’t know a day could be so long.

 

 

“What’s that face?” Fede questioned curiously, handing two guests their drinks and then walking towards her. “Has the night been that bad? I know Leo can be a lot but you look like you’re ready to drop,”

 

Jazmín snorted. “No, not Leo. I don’t know…” She said, closing her eyes and seeing Flor’s eyes meeting hers on the dance floor, examining her face, her eyes, her neck, her body. “I think I’m done with your drinks, eh?”

 

 

Fede got finished arranging a set of cups on the counter, his eyes dancing with mirth. “You’ve been done for an hour. All of you have been drinking juice with a little bit of cheap wine,” He confessed. Jazmín gaped at him, both astounded and embarrassed.

 

  
“ _Oh my God, Fede,”_ She whispered, mortified, feeling her whole face warm up as she covered it with her hands. “Are you serious?”

 

 

He laughed loudly and went to get other guests’ orders, still looking at her from the corner of his eyes and snickering.

 

 

“Jaz?” She heard Flor’s voice from behind her and turned around with a soft smile.

 

 

“Hi,”

 

 

“Are you okay? And is Leo still alive? I saw Carla just now, we managed to find some tweezers and got the shrimp removed. It’s a  really tight dress, yeah? So once she’s in, there’s no going out for the rest of the night. The shrimp was all mushy too.” Flor told her, sitting next to her with a drink in hand and giving her an adorably appalled look that just earned her a loud cackle.

 

 

“He’s fine, we just put him in a cab. He’s a drunk crier, that one. Cries, sobs, the whole soap opera. You should’ve seen him when he found out Javo ate his alfajor. The despair? Honestly…”  Jazmín said. She’d wanted to lighten the air after what had happened. She felt unbelievably stupid for listening in on her and Daniel like she had, especially in the context they were in – extreme avoidance after an almost, almost kiss – and God, everything she didn’t want was for any of it to ruin what they had. She didn’t know how to fix it when she kept fucking it up.

 

 

“ _Dumbass_ ,” The both of them laughed, all twinkly eyes and shy smiles.

 

 

“Yeah, he’s a dumbass.” She said, getting closer to Flor and offering her an apologetic look. “Look, Flor. I wanted to apologize for the whole scene I caused with the both of you. It wasn’t my place. He was talking to you like that and, well, I’m not sorry for calling him out on it, but I’m sorry for-“

 

 

“No, no, no. Please, Jaz. You did what no one really does for me. What I don’t do for myself.” Flor sighed and sinked her fingers into her hair to flip it to the other side – something Jazmín had learned was a sign that her friend felt apprehensive, that she needed to be heard. She wanted Jazmín to understand how important that moment was for her. And so she listened, blinking slowly and nodding at her to try and provide a sense of tranquility. ”It meant more than you can imagine, I promise. It made me realize some things about myself, about... other people around me. And I came here to thank you for it. Not just this, but everything you’ve done for me. For being my guardian angel from the moment you walked into the hotel,”

 

 

Jazmín felt her entire body soften, Flor’s words touching every inch of her body. It meant the world to her that she was able to make Flor see herself through her eyes for at least a few seconds. That she could see how much more she deserved, how much more she _was_ than what she saw. It meant the world to her that she saw Jazmín as her guardian angel, because that’s exactly who she wanted to be – who she aspired to be to Flor, always. “It was nothing, Flor. I said only what I knew to be true. I always tell you you deserve the world because you deserve the world. And if Daniel doesn’t see it, then, well. He doesn’t deserve you.”

 

 

Flor threw both her arms around her shoulders, squeezing her tightly, and Jazmín rushed to pull her close by her waist. Flor had her usual minty strawberries scent, but tonight it was mixed with a little bit of alcohol and another perfume she couldn’t quite discern, quite on the strong and citric side. It was Daniel’s, she assumed.  

 

 

She squeezed her a little tighter.

 

 

“How are you feeling?” Jazmín asked, parting from her. She searched in her face any form of distress on the matter. If Flor didn’t want to talk, Jazmín wouldn’t make her, however. “About your fight with Daniel and everything else. You said you’d come to new realizations,”

 

 

“Honestly, I don’t know. We have about five good minutes and the rest of the time is reserved for fighting. And he gets stuck on things, yeah? He gets stuck on things and can’t get over them, like what you heard today. He thinks that we _-hm_... that we... _eyefuck like horny rabbits_ shit! shit, sorry, sorry,” She closed her eyes, blushing profusely, looking like she’d do anything to find a hole to hide herself in. Jazmín snickered lightly, nodding at her to say it was okay, that she should go on. “He thinks we have a weird friendship, that we’re _viciously scissoring,_ sorry, sorry!”

 

 

“I see. And do we?”

 

  
“I’m sorry, what?” Florencia choked on her drink, incredulously eyeing Jazmín.

 

 

“Do we have a weird friendship?” Jazmín questioned her, pretending to cough to hide her smirk.

 

 

“No, never. Do you think so?”

 

 

“I think what we have is beautiful,” Jazmín said, circling her index finger around the rim of Flor’s glass. “Regardless of… everything else.”

 

 

Flor nodded, eyes watching Jazmín’s fingers.

 

 

“What do you think I should do?” Flor asked her, extending her head to the side and rubbing the base of her neck tiredly.

 

 

Jazmín fidgeted in her seat, restless, trying not to fix her eyes on the exposed expanse of Florencia’s neck. 

 

 

“I think you should do what makes you happy. And I mean that when it comes to Dani and every other aspect,” She said, simply. “Look back at everything that’s happened and what you see happening in the future, and focus on what has you so, so happy you can barely fit it in your chest. Then jump right in.”

 

  
Flor pursed her lips, tentatively looking at Jazmín. “Do you do it?”

 

 

Jazmín contemplated her options. She did try her best to choose happiness over other aspects in her life, and she’d always been one to take risks. Risk taking was what had landed her right where she was, in this very hotel. She’d moved to France on her own. She’d moved back with nothing but experience, she’d gone to culinary school against all odds, she’d made a life of her own.  She’d gotten her fair share of risk taking and pursuing what made her happy.

 

 

But now she’d found it. Happiness itself, sitting right next to her. And suddenly she found herself watching every step. Careful. Vigilant. She was so scared of missing a step. But she’d stayed despite their circumstances, simply because the kind of peace she found in Flor wasn’t something she thought she’d be able to let go, not after having experienced it. Even if it meant she didn’t receive it the way she wanted to. Even if she wasn’t able to give it back to her the way she wanted to. She stayed.

 

 

“I try to,” She conceded, finally. “But sometimes you can’t really do it, you see? Sometimes it’s not only up to you. So you just do your best to get the kind of happiness that thing can grant to you. And you take it. I mean, how couldn’t you? When it makes you feel so many things never thought you’d feel and you meet new, better parts of yourself. And you feel her it deep, deep within you. You don’t know where you begin and it ends. It’s all right here. In your chest. Compacted together with all the rest of you,” Jazmín felt herself exhale, hand massaging her chest, willing her heart to beat slower. “I’m sorry, I’m blabbering,”

 

 

Flor shook her head no, eyes shiny with unshed tears she kept blinking back. She found Jazmín’s hand on the counter and carefully placed hers right next to it, extended her thumb to carress Jazmín’s.

 

 

“Are you crying?” Jazmín asked in a small voice, moving her hands to Flor’s face and cautiously swiping with her thumbs the tears that were starting to fall. “What’s wrong?”

 

 

“No, it’s what you said,” She rolled her eyes at herself, wiping her tears. “I’m the human version of mashed potatoes, so give me a second,”

 

 

Jazmín laughed softly, finding Flor’s hand again and lightly brushing the tips of her fingers over it. “You’re a bit of a mushy drunk,” She confessed, and they both shared woozy smiles. “But all in all you’re the bravest human mashed potato I’ve ever met.”

 

 

“I don’t think my name would be under the dictionary description of brave,” Flor turned her hand around, opened her palm and locked their fingers together. “I can think of a few things I want a lot, and I mean _a lot_ , an unreal amount. But I’m,- _hm, scared shitless_ a little inconvenienced.”

 

 

“Does it make you happy?”

 

 

Flor sighed deeply and held Jazmín’s eyes with hers, a soft, soft look deep within her eyes. Almost pleading. Jazmín didn’t know what it meant; she didn’t know what she wanted from her, but she wanted her to know she had it all. That she’d had her from the very first moment. All she had to do was _ask_.

 

 

She nodded. “It does. Infinitely times so.”

 

 

“Then I’m completely sure you’re gonna do it, fear and all.” She paused, then remembered something that had always managed to stick with her. “A while ago I read that bravery didn’t mean you weren’t scared. It meant you were afraid and you followed your heart through it all.”

 

 

“I have to do something.” Flor told her, abruptly getting up and looking so determined Jazmín had to slowly blink back at her to try and understand what was happening. She stared at her friend with a clearly disoriented face, waiting for some kind of explanation.

 

 

It didn’t come.

 

 

Flor walked away in a flash, so fast Jazmín had her few seconds of actually considering the idea that she’d had hallucinated the entirety of their interaction.

 

 

“Flor!”

  
How was it that most of their interactions ended like this?

 

 

* * *

 

 

“She broke up with him,” Miranda said, running into the kitchen the next morning, so fast her feet slid on the floor and she stopped right in front of Jazmín, breath agitated.

 

 

“What?”  Jazmín questioned her, not really listening as she tightened her apron around her hips. It was still rather early and she’d gotten to the hotel about an hour before, sporting a a monster headache - a lovely present from the previous night, she was well aware - and two unusually messy buns. She slowly massaged her temples and heard her voice come out grumpier than intended, “Good morning to you too, Miru, how are you? How was your night? How’s your life?”

 

 

“Squidward, listen to me: They broke up. She left him last night,” She told her.

 

 

“She left him?” She breathed out, still not quite registering it.

 

 

Miranda nodded vigorously, looking as though she was ready to jump around the entirety of the hotel carrying Jazmín, bridestyle and all. “They talked this morning again. He thought she’d just had too much to drink last night. But she seemed even more certain in the light of the day,”

 

 

“Oh my God.” Jazmín supported herself on the kitchen counter as she felt her legs turn as wobbly as jello. “How is she?”

 

 

“She looks relieved,” Miranda said, offering her a small, knowing smile before continuing, “She’d been delaying it for some time now and it seems she’s had some realizations,”

 

 

She immediately felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She hid her face behind her hands, feeling a giddy, lightheaded feeling wash over her.

 

 

She couldn’t believe it was finally over.

 

 

They’d never been a good fit; Daniel had never learned how to deal with Flor and she’d never learned to deal with him either. Daniel would do things however he pleased and if it hurt Flor, he’d find a way to gift her something as a distraction. He’d lose patience with her and give up on things entirely. He’d treat her tourette as an issue to be overlooked; as something he loved her _despite_ its existence; as though it was a reason for her not to be loved. He wouldn’t defend her or even stand by her whenever someone made an obtuse comment on it.

 

 

Now it was done. Flor was following her heart. Finally.

 

 

She needed to see her. She needed to make sure she was okay. To tell her she was proud of her. That she was there for her, no matter what.

 

 

Miranda seemed to read it on her face as she informed her, raising her eyebrows suggestively, “She’s upstairs, all alone.”

 

 

Jazmín laughed, feeling it in her whole body, in her essence, her insides.

 

 

She felt renewed.

 

 

* * *

 

 

She’d prepared a freaking feast, she realized.

 

 

She thought she’d quickly whip something up for Flor, but she ended up filling up the cart with everything she thought would please her, and that could easily cause the hotel to go into bankruptcy.

 

 

If it made Flor happy, she was okay with that.

 

 

“Cachito, my love, simmer down a little. Are you trying to turn her into Violet Beauregarde? Do you want to roll her out of her room?” Javo questioned her, eyeing the progressively full cart with something akin to horror.

 

 

“She likes all of these things! I want to make her feel good, so I’m giving her everything she likes,” She informed him, adding a bowl of chocolate covered strawberries as Javo subtly tried to swipe one and received a slap on the hand.

 

 

Javo hummed his approval, making scissors with his hands while Jazmín started rolling the heavy cart out of the kitchen with certain difficulty, laughing loudly and telling him to shut up.

 

 

She raised her hand to press the elevator button, hands shaking slightly. The doors opened right in time, a determined-looking Flor inside.

 

 

“Flor! I was just going upstairs to have breakfast with you. I made you all your favorites, and yesterday I hid a whole batch of banana bread for you in the stock room, eh? ‘cause I know you get cranky when Carla eats all of it and, well, she always does, so now you can have it. I warmed it up and sprinkled extra cinnamon on top,” She babbled, gesturing to the monster cart. Flor nodded, eyes not once leaving Jazmín’s but softening as she listened.

 

 

Jazmín thought her tense, determined poise and general look made her look like a little soldier. She had to fight hard against the urge to flash her a dopey grin. “What?”

 

 

Flor pulled her by the hand into the elevator and she rapidly pulled the cart with her before the doors closed behind them. She went to press the button to Flor’s floor but the brunette stopped the elevator first, eyes still locked on hers. She felt her heart beat faster in worry over her strange behavior. Had she pushed her limits last night? Had she upset her somehow?

 

 

“What’s wrong? Don’t you want to have breakfast with me?”

 

 

“No,”

 

 

“No?!” Jazmín murmured sorrowfully, frowning and feeling her good mood drop all at once.

 

 

“No, _yes_ , but no,” Flor rushed to explain, but Jazmín still looked at her confusedly. She breathed in deeply and got closer to her, eyes darting from her lips to her eyes, “I wanted to talk to you,”

 

 

“We can talk Flor, let’s go upstairs, I’ve got all sorts of fresh fruit here and I don’t want them to go bad,” She took a step back to distance herself from Florencia; she couldn’t think very well when they were close, much less sharing the same air in a tiny, closed space like this. Flor seemed to sense it and took a step forward.

 

 

“No, but this can’t wait.” She anxiously ran her fingers through her curls, waiting for Jazmín to voice her agreement. “Let me talk to you about this right now, please. I’ve been psyching myself up all night and if I don’t say it now I don’t know when I’m going to have the courage to do this again,”

 

 

Jazmín nodded, watching her attentively.

 

 

“I’ve been feeling guilty for a long time. I feel guilty whenever I talk or hug or kiss, or…  If I’m in  the general presence of Dani. And for some time I didn’t really understand why. I didn’t do anything with anyone else, I never did anything, if that’s what you’re thinking,” She laughed nervously, massaged her temples, “Until I realized the reason why I feel like that is because whenever I’m with him, all I ever want is – _hm_ to be with you. _”_ She took a long breath and released it, trying to calm herself down, _“_ In my head I’m with you, always. Right by your side. I realized… I could be with my sisters, my mother, God himself, eh? All I want is to be with you.”

 

 

She shook her head and closed her eyes as though exasperated, not quite understanding how she could feel so _much_. “Trying out your banana breads. Listening to you talk about how terrible Javo is at making salads and how he always forgets the cherry tomatoes. Talking to you on the phone when we both can’t sleep. As long as it is with you. Do you see where I’m going? You must be thinking I’m really weird, aren’t you?”

 

 

“No, Flor, you’re beautiful,” Jazmín kept her hand glued to her chest, willing her heart to calm down, her whole body trembling with pure and complete adrenaline as though she’d ran a marathon in the mere seconds it took Flor to say what she said. As though her soul had sprinted up high in the skies and fell right back into her body. Was she really saying what she thought she was saying?

 

 

Flor had always been one to praise her, tell her she loved being with her and stress how much she admired Jazmín; it always made her heart sing, and Jazmín thought there always were a few seconds they’d look at each other and forget everything about the circumstances they were in. But they always moved on from it, taking it as a compliment between friends, but leaving it open for interpretation.

 

 

This time, she wanted to make sure nothing she said was lost in translation.

 

 

“But please be a little clearer, just to be sure we’re on the same page,”

 

 

“Do you remember last night you told me I should find what makes me so, so happy I can barely fit in my chest? And to never let it go?”

 

 

“Yes…?” Jazmín said, trying to understand where this was going.

 

 

“Well, you know how I think a lot, yeah? I think a lot, and I go over things a lot, doubt myself, review my options. But this time I was certain of one thing. And that thing was that you’re who makes me so happy it feels like my chest is a second away from bursting,”

 

 

“What I’m saying is _–hm_ I’ve never felt like this before and I don’t know what _–fucking flying shit it is,_ ” Flor massaged her temples, closing her eyes and trying to concentrate, and Jazmín offered her a small, shaky smile, whispering _it’s okay, go on_.

 

 

“I can’t sleep. It’s like my mind is too restless, like it wants to keep reminding me of every little moment we’ve had together and moments we _–hm_ could have together. I can’t turn it off. And when I’m with you I feel like I’m in complete shutdown. I can’t think but I _feel_ so much, and there’s so much I want to do so badly I can feel my whole head tingle,”  

 

 

“I’ve felt it since the day I met you.” Jazmín confessed. She could feel her heart in her throat, her whole body buzzing, the tips of her fingers involuntarily reaching out to Flor’s. Flor found her hand, locked their fingers together. They both shared tentative smiles. “I started dreaming about curls like yours, shiny eyes like yours, that tiny mole you have on your eyebrow.” She carefully brushed the pad of her thumb over it and Flor watched her, holding her breath, all big eyes and parted lips. “I’d dream about it all, and I’d come here and look at you, and listen to you, and somehow it made me feel even more. It made me want to always be the one to make your eyes shiny like that, and make you smile that way your eyes go as squinty as possible, to make you feel so happy you meet new parts of yourself, all of them born out of all the love you’ve allowed yourself to be shown,”

 

 

She paused to take in some air and Flor’s hand tightened around hers. She took it as a sign it was okay to go on. “But you’re with Dani and how couldn’t I respect tha-“

 

 

“I’m not. I broke up with him,” Flor rushed to explain, and Jazmín nodded, trying to hide her giddiness from hearing it out of her mouth just like that. They were done. Flor was okay. _They were done and Flor was okay_.

 

 

“Mhm. Miranda told me.”

 

 

“She did? – _fucking dumbass_ ” A flash of annoyance went over her face, but as Jazmín threw her head back and laughed, it was gone as fast as it got there.

 

 

“I was worried I wasn’t going to be able to act normal around you after what happened in your room.” She told her. “That you’d connect the dots and wouldn’t want to have me in your life anymore. If Miranda hadn’t walked in…” She didn’t have to finish the sentence. They both knew the implications of how they’d completely lost control, and the look on Flor’s face told her she’d been thinking about that morning too. That it’d affected her just as much.  

 

 

“I did connect some dots,”

 

 

“Does it scare you?” She murmured, searching for any signs of discomfort in Flor’s stance. “Is it bad?”

 

 

“No, no, it’s lovely,” She got a little closer, leaving almost inexistent space between them. Flor’s perfume engulfed her all at once, accompanied by the shared heat of their bodies and her eyes boring into hers, inevitably clouding her mind as she struggled to focus on what the brunette was saying. She hesitated for a moment before a bout of courage overtook her and she fixed her eyes on Jazmín’s lips, murmuring, “If – _hm_ if Miranda hadn’t walked in, what?”

 

 

Jazmín bit her lip, tucking a stray curl behind Florencia’s ear and bringing her hand to her lips, making sure to deposit a soft kiss on every knuckle. “If Miranda hadn’t walked in, I would’ve made you feel everything I’ve always wanted to make you feel.”

 

 

Flor got closer still, bumping their noses together, the ghost of her lips over Jazmín’s. The redhead closed her eyes, slipping her hand to Flor’s neck and ever so softly brushing her fingers over her neck. When Flor spoke, Jazmín felt more than heard her trembling whisper against her lips, “How?”

 

 

Jazmín’s heart started thumping in her chest.

 

 

She thought she was going to go insane with how much she’d had to strain herself around Florencia the last few days, and it all crashed down to this very moment. She could feel every single nerve in her body on fire, craving, _demanding_ for her to close the distance between them, clash their bodies together, kiss her until she couldn’t breathe, until she couldn’t think, until she didn’t know where she ended and Jazmín started. There was so much she wanted. Needed. “With my fingers. With my lips,” She moved Flor’s head to the side and ghosted her lips from her jaw to the base of her neck, right where her neck met her shoulder. She wrapped her lips around the skin, gently biting it. Florencia’s breath hitched, and she moved her lips up, leaving another kiss behind her ear.

 

 

“I’d pull you close like this,” She swiftly slid her hands down her back, finding her waist and pulling her impossibly closer, nails lightly scratching the exposed skin on her back. Florencia drew in a sharp breath, sucking the air through her teeth, which made Jazmín deposit another kiss, this time under her jaw. She moved her hands a little lower down the curve of her back. “And grab y-“

 

 

Florencia crashed her lips against hers, the movement so sudden and strong Jazmín moved backwards, her back colliding with the elevator wall. She sighed into Flor’s mouth, parting her lips. The brunette’s hands found her face and brought it towards her, pining her with her hips at the same time she slipped her tongue into her mouth, deepening the kiss.

 

 

Jazmín was completely dizzy, and if their bodies weren’t pressed so tightly together she was completely sure her knees would’ve given in.

 

 

She kissed her back with everything she was, the heat of Florencia’s mouth and body serving as added fire to her burning body. The brunette’s hands tangled in her hair, causing a low groan to escape her throat, her whole body trembling against hers with desire she didn’t know she was able to feel.

 

 

Flor bit her bottom lip with force and slipped a strong thigh between her legs, placing it against her heat. Both of them whimpered softly as Jazmín instinctively pressed down.  

 

 

She let go of Florencia’s lips with a wet pop and deposited a kiss on the corner of her mouth, followed by her jaw, then just under her ear. Flor’s breath hitched in her chest, the fingers in her hair pulling her closer still. Taking it as a sign to go on, she kissed her way down Flor’s throat, teeth nipping at her soft skin between licks and kisses. When she got to the base of her neck, she swiftly sucked the sensitive skin into her mouth, a breathy moan leaving Florencia’s throat and reverberating under her insistent lips. Jazmín chuckled against her neck and Flor pressed her thigh more tightly against her center, quickly turning her chuckle into a whimper, her hips jerking of their own accord.  

 

 

She was rapidly coming to the realization that things between her and Florencia had a tendency to work up quite fast, going from 0 to 100 in a matter of seconds. And, well, while Jazmín was a fairly controlled person there was only so much control she could have when it came right down to Florencia and just how much she enjoyed being this close to her. But they’d have to learn to take things slowly. She didn’t want to risk losing what they had, or even rushing things and making Flor uncomfortable.

 

 

Jazmín reluctantly tore her lips away from Flor’s, who groaned lowly in protest, leaning in and connecting their lips again. The redhead laughed affectionately and peppered small kisses all over her face before moving back. “Are you okay?”

 

 

Flor nodded, all dilated pupils, messy hair and pink lipstick stains, and Jazmín couldn’t help but caress her jaw with her thumb, feeling her insides twisting all around with raw, unsullied _love_.  “ _Yes_ … I never knew I could feel like this,”

 

 

“Like what?” Jazmín asked. Flor contented herself with a shrug, giggling woozily, and it didn’t take long before the redhead joined her. She felt drunk, almost. Like every single sense of hers was multiplied by a thousand. Like the world spun slowly and she could feel it under her feet. Like what she had, what she felt inside of her was too big for her body to hold.

 

 

“Invincible,” She concluded, simply. Just like that. Jazmín beamed at her, holding her face between her hands and pressing her lips to the corner of her mouth, her cheek, her sharp jaw, and at last just under her ear.

 

 

“Beautiful,” She tightened her arms around her and pulled their bodies flush together, prompting Flor’s arms to wrap themselves around her neck and to brush her lips against hers again, soft lips opening, searching.  

 

 

“I’ve been dying to have you this close,” Flor croaked against her in between kisses, tender, soothing eyes fixing themselves on her. Jazmín flashed her a dizzy grin, nuzzling her face in her neck.

 

 

“Mm. Me too,”

 

 

She turned to softly nuzzle her neck instead, and Flor threw her head back, failing to stifle a booming giggle. Jazmín looked at her questioningly, a silly look making itself home in her face. “What? Are you ticklish?”

 

 

Flor’s eyes went so wide Jazmín thought they might pop out of her face, and she hurriedly threw her hands up, shaking them no. “Noooo no no no no, never, no, _-trickster clam, con artist,_ ”

 

 

It was the most unconvincing sentence Jazmín had ever heard in her entire life.

 

 

She started walking Flor backwards, covering her neck with small, rapid kisses as the brunette squirmed under her ministrations, both of their laughs filling the small room.   

 

 

“Ow, the buttons,” Flor wheezed, face red with laughter as her back collided with the elevator wall. Jazmín pulled back to ask if she was okay, but she immediately pulled her closer, crashing her lips against hers. Jazmín promptly smashed their bodies closer together, pressing the brunette’s body harder against the wall.

 

 

The elevator doors suddenly opened to reveal a very smug Miranda and both of them jumped, Jazmín rushing to the opposite end of the elevator as though that would help their case at all.

 

 

Miranda examined Jazmín’s destroyed buns and smudged pink lipstick all over her face, competing with the bright pink color her face was turning by the second; then she turned to her sister, trying to pull her skirt down, lipstick marks on every inch of her face and neck, swollen lips, hair sticking all over the place as though she’d been shocked.

 

 

“We’ve gotta stop meeting like this,” She said, a fake exhausted look on her face, but Jazmín could see her eyes dancing with mirth.

 

 

“We-we were just…”  Jazmín tried, frantically rubbing the lipstick off her face, and Flor looked at her nervously.

 

 

“ _Coitus interruptus,_ ” Flor choked out, a mix of annoyance and embarrassment covering her face as she subtly pressed her legs together, avoiding looking at Jazmín.

 

 

“Oh,” Miranda drawled. She watched both of them grow so red they looked just shy out of combusting, then flashed them a self-satisfied grin. “You two better get out of here because Carla’s after whoever locked the elevator for this long and there’s no way you’re getting out of this alive if she sees it was you,”

 

 

“Flopi, don’t forget your breakfast, I’ve gotta run to the kitchen,” Jazmín hurried out of the elevator, not at all prepared to face the wrath of Carla Estrella. She swiftly removed the remaining pins from her hair, running her fingers through it as a means to try and make it less messy, and Flor’s eyes watched her, blinking slowly.

 

 

“Weren’t we eating together?” She said, biting her lip with this  _look_ that was, undoubtedly, becoming Jazmín's favorite in the world.

 

 

“I’ll give Javo a hand and go up in a bit,” She told her, and Flor grinned hazily, nodding.

 

 

Some things did change after all.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't kill me!! i know the Thirst™ lives in most of you, so i there might be an E rated third part. we'll see!  
> please let me know what you think, your comments are so lovely!!  
> you're welcome to gush with me over these goofs on [tumblr](http://waverlyearpss.tumblr.com/)


End file.
